3 hotels in works for Beaumont

New hotels are under construction in the commercial area along Interstate 10 near Walden Road, including a new complex among the hotels near Tinseltown. The growth signals the growing demand for accommodations as regional tournaments and other tourism opportunities grow in the region. Photo taken Friday, May 31, 2019 Kim Brent/The Enterprise less

New hotels are under construction in the commercial area along Interstate 10 near Walden Road, including a new complex among the hotels near Tinseltown. The growth signals the growing demand for accommodations ... more

Photo: Kim Brent / The Enterprise

Photo: Kim Brent / The Enterprise

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New hotels are under construction in the commercial area along Interstate 10 near Walden Road, including a new complex among the hotels near Tinseltown. The growth signals the growing demand for accommodations as regional tournaments and other tourism opportunities grow in the region. Photo taken Friday, May 31, 2019 Kim Brent/The Enterprise less

New hotels are under construction in the commercial area along Interstate 10 near Walden Road, including a new complex among the hotels near Tinseltown. The growth signals the growing demand for accommodations ... more

Photo: Kim Brent / The Enterprise

3 hotels in works for Beaumont

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A coming surge of construction workers in hardhats and young athletes in team attire is driving a lodging boom in Beaumont. Three hotels nearing completion are expected to expand the city’s lodging capacity by nearly 7 percent.

More projects might be in the pipeline as well, said Brian Huguenard, vice president of operations for Pride Management, which will run the three new properties, clustered near Walden Road and Interstate 10. Once open this fall, weather permitting, the Days Inn, Avid and Home 2 Suites will add a combined 240 rooms to the region’s current inventory of 3,500 rooms.

Many of the occupants will be participants in 19 multiday tournaments — not just baseball and softball but also tennis, soccer, bridge and body-building — on the books for this summer. Freddie Willard, sales director for the Beaumont Convention and Visitors Bureau, said that once parents and siblings are added, those tournaments will likely bring an estimated 20,000 visitors.

“You’ll see tourism in action,” Willard said. “You’ll see kids in uniform in our restaurants and malls. That’s new money coming in.”

Industrial construction likely will account for thousands more room nights during the next several years, said Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick.

Branick estimates somewhere between $45 billion and $65 billion in industrial projects for much of the early 2020s, with a need for perhaps 40,000 workers.

That work force will live locally, even if only temporarily. Many of them will choose area hotels, Branick said.

Ongoing expansions include Golden Pass LNG, Exxon Mobil Beaumont refinery, Exxon Mobil chemical plant on U.S. 90 and Sempra in Port Arthur, which Branick said is expected to re-route Texas 87 toward Sabine Pass “any week now.” He said a couple of expected projects haven’t been announced yet.

RV parks in Jefferson County are full and Branick said that, for the foreseeable future, any qualified worker who wants a construction job in Jefferson County can get one.

While construction peaks — and demand for temporary living quarters — are still in the future, this summer’s sports activities area fully booked.

The tournaments alone should generate $1.5 million in draw direct spending from May through August, Willard said. That tally includes hotel room nights, meals at restaurants, retail and entertainment for families accompanying the players, she said. It does not reflect the so-called “multiplier effect” for the “new money” spent in the area, which refers to a dollar of spending turning around several times in ancillary economic activity.

Play will unfold at the 12 fields at Ford Park on Interstate 10 and the 12 fields at the Beaumont Athletic Complex on College Street.

The city’s hotel rooms are in great shape as tournament directors come in for site visits and negotiate rates for the families, Willard said.

Morgan Walker, president of the Southeast Texas Baseball Academy, said its tournaments feature 90 to 100 teams.

“The fields are outstanding and all the hotels are involved,” he said. “It’s a great economic boost.”

Willard said area hotels are more than 80 percent filled on weekdays with industry and business visitors. The occupancy rates remain in the high 60s to 70 percent range on weekends, which she said is still good for the hospitality industry.

Willard said the Convention and Visitors Bureau is pursuing the National Beep Baseball Association tournament for visually impaired players to town for summer 2021.

Site-selection officials have visited Beaumont and invited the city to bid, based on the amenities its participants need, especially the Cris Quinn soccer fields.

Beep tournament players need a wide area like a soccer field for the tournament’s specialized equipment, including 4-foot-tall foam bases that emit a “beep” so players can run to the sound and grab on to the base before an opposing player can run to the sound of a hit ball, which emits a differently pitched beep. The defensive player has to pick up the ball before the runner reaches base to score an out.

Beaumont is in competition with Wichita, Kansas, for the event, Willard said.

Part of the requirements include an adequate numbers of rooms complying with the Americans With Disabilities Act. Travel ease is another concern. Beaumont has just one commercial carrier serving the Jack Brooks Regional Airport, although United Airlines runs a bus shuttle service from Houston.

Willard said the Convention and Visitors Bureau will make its presentation for the 2021 tournament on July 28 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

“We’ve been working on this for a year,” she said.

Dan Wallach is a freelance writer.

CORRECTION: This article has been updated to reflect that Beaumont is in competition with Wichita, Kansas, to host the 2021 National Beep Baseball Association tournament.